Montega

by Keon Smith

“I can’t. I just know how to move my feet. But fuck all that. What’s good with you?” he asked.

  Samorah smiled. “What do you mean by that?”

  “You already know what I mean. Let’s start from the sorority house. Every morning, you take a shower at the same time I come down. I know you see me watching you.”

  “Watching me? Why would you be watching me? Aren’t you Tasha’s man?”

  “I was once told that the only way to claim a man is to marry him. And right now, you don’t see no ring on my finger. Me and Tasha split up when she came back to college. We just get it in whenever we can,” he confessed. “Right now, I ain’t thinking about Tasha. I’m thinking about how far I can get with a beautiful girl like you.”

  Samorah smiled. Her glossy lips sparkled, along with the small diamond-studded nose ring she had. That reminded him of Juicy. She was gorgeous. Montega couldn’t help but stare at her. After a minute of silence, she asked, “Is there a reason why you’re staring at me like that without saying something?”

  “Yeah, I’m standin’ here, sayin’ to myself, ‘Damn, she can’t be this pretty. Something has to be wrong with her.’ Even diamonds are flawed, you know?”

  Samorah blushed while he continued. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Kenny,” he said, holding out his hand.

  “Samorah,” she replied, taking his hand in hers and shaking it. “Nice to meet you, Kenny.”

  Samorah and Montega danced and drank the whole night until last call, which was called at six in the morning. As the two got ready to leave, Samorah asked, “Do you want to go get some breakfast?”

  “Hell yeah, I’m starvin’. Let me go tell my cousin I’m out.”

  When Montega saw Rodney, he let him know where he was headed and informed him that he would meet him later. Once he got outside, Samorah was waiting for him in a gold Lexus GS450.

  “Damn, I guess even the women in Atlanta get at a dollar too,” he said, closing the passenger side door after getting in. “This is nice.”

  “Thanks, but I’m not from Atlanta. I’m from Miami,” she corrected him, starting up the car.

  “Oh yeah? What part?” he asked as if he had been there before.

  “North Miami Beach. Have you ever been there?”

  “Nah, not me. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever left my city until now.”

  “Oh my God, Kenny, you should see it. It’s so beautiful—the palm trees, the golden beaches of sand, and blue water. It’s all so spectacular. Why don’t you come visit me down there some time? I’m sure you would love it.”

  “You know what? That don’t sound like a bad idea.”

  “I think I should warn you though. You might not want to leave.”

  “I can believe that, especially if half the women are as appealing as you are,” he replied.

  Samorah glowed. “I see I may have to put my guard up on you. You are quite the charmer, not to mention, you’re cute. Those are pluses that can get you far with me.”

  Once the two arrived at the Flying Biscuit for breakfast, they seated themselves. Montega was far from home. He was still cautious, so they sat by the window. After the episode with the grenade launcher, he made sure he looked at every face that came in the restaurant. If a person didn’t look right, he would flip into war mode.

  “So what are you takin’ up in college?” he asked.

  “Business. I want to own my own club someday when I get a chance to settle down after my modeling career.”

  “Oh yeah? You’re a model?” Montega asked, surprised.

  “Well, not exactly. I’m actually goin’ to school for that. I have taken pictures and been in magazines like King and Smooth Girls, but I don’t want to be one of those ghetto models with just a big ass. I want to go for the big labels like Victoria’s Secret or Cover Girl. What do you think?” she asked.

  “I think the sky’s the limit for an angel. Besides, one of my sister’s girlfriends, Amber Paschel, she models for those magazines. Do you know her?”

  “I’ve heard of her. She’s very popular in the industry too. But I want more than that. I want the world.”

  Montega smirked and replied, “So do I.”

  After their meal, Samorah took him to her getaway spot at the W on 14th Street. Montega worried about her 16th-floor suite. For one, she was a college student driving a Lexus, and two; she had credit cards up the ass. Now, he was standing in the largest hotel suite he had ever seen, and it was just her getaway spot? He made a mental note to do more research about this woman; there was something she just wasn’t telling him.

  The Warning

  “Watch your back…”

  BUTCH

  “Please take a seat, miss. Your visit will start in a few minutes,” the black female officer at the visiting room desk said before attending to the next person in line.

  Diamond headed through a room filled with inmates and their visitors and took a seat by the snack machine. A few sets of eyes were locked onto her voluptuous backside as she strutted along in a pair of tight, black, leather leggings and black, high-heeled platforms.

  Once she found a seat, she decided to grab some snacks from the vending machine. When she returned, her cousin Butch was approaching her from the back. Butch was related to Diamond on her father’s side of the family. He used to run with her a few years back when she was trying to make a name for herself out on the streets of Los Angeles as the Black Kiss of Death.

  He got arrested on gun charges and had been incarcerated in a federal prison ever since. During that time, Butch had gotten some unexpected visits from models and legendary mobsters; none, however, were as important or spellbinding as the Snow White Queen, Diamond.

  Once he handed the guard his card, he headed through the receiving room to the other side, swaggering like he owned the place because, truthfully, he did. Butch had most of the jail in his pocket. Even the warden catered to him at times.

  When Diamond saw the husky Ving Rhames lookalike, she couldn’t help but crack a big smile. “I see you’re eating well in here,” she said, giving him a big hug before they sat.

  “I’m maintaining; that’s all. But look at you. I swear you get prettier every time I see you. You staying outta trouble out there? I don’t want to hear that you had to put another boyfriend down because he was trippin’.”

  Diamond smiled. Seeing her cousin brought back memories, some good and some sadly depressing. “So what’s up with you in here? I thought you were coming home soon. What changed?” she asked, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  The look on Butch’s face told her something wasn’t right. He then looked away.

  “Butch, what’s the problem?”

  “Look, Dee. I’m just gonna tell you like this. Sometimes, you just can’t duck no rec in here. Even if you try your hardest. Long story short, I caught a new charge. So I won’t be coming home anytime soon. But don’t sweat it. I’m good in here. You might as well say this is my jail. I got C.O.s bringing shit in for me. I get a little pussy every now and then, so I don’t sweat it.”

  “Well, I certainly hope it’s not her,” Diamond said, pointing at the dark, nasty woman sitting at the desk. Butch burst out laughing. “You gotta be kiddin’ me if you think I’m sticking my dick in that. Anyway, what’s goin’ on with you? Who’s the new big-time boyfriend?”

  Embarrassment swept over Diamond before she could look away. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” she mumbled.

  “Get outta here! You don’t got no man? Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you switched over to—”

  “Do you want to die in this visiting room? Don’t come at me like that.”

  “Well then, what’s the problem?”

  Diamond tried to find an answer to his question but came up empty. “I don’t know. I guess I haven’t found the right one yet. I don’t want to end up with another Hector or Stephon. I want this one to be different than the others I’ve fallen in love with before.”

&
nbsp; “Dee, c’mon, cuz. Ya trippin’. Here you are, twenty-four-years-old, waiting for the right guy to step forward. Ya young, baby girl. Live ya life. You can’t get nowhere like that. Ya got to take chances and make mistakes. You might think you a princess, but you might not be able to find Prince Charming. So I guess you may have to settle for the knight or even a pawn and be happy.”

  “You mean as in a small-timer?” Diamond asked as if he’d just soiled her shoes. “What I need is someone well established, who doesn’t feel intimidated by me—someone who is confident in himself and can think for the both of us when I need him to. I need a boss, Butch, not a soldier,” Diamond explained.

  “Shit, those be the ones, Dee. You need to stop being so stubborn and give a real nigga a chance, regardless of what that fool makes. Everything ain’t always about money. But I ain’t here to beat your head in. What I want to tell you about has nothing to do with your love life. It’s about your brother. That mark is a snake, Diamond. He and his organization. A lotta fools been talkin’ ’bout him and those marks and how they used to work for the Great Whites. Then, when something happens, Clyde turns his back on them completely and even puts out a hit on them in jail to keep them from retaliating. I didn’t believe the shit until somebody put a hit out on me. Since I’m alive to tell you this, you can guess why I caught the new charge and won’t be comin’ home no time soon, right? No matter what, he wins, and I lose.”

  Diamond looked confused. “But why would Clyde put a hit out on you? I don’t understand. You don’t work for him. You work for me,” she said.

  “I don’t know, Dee. I really don’t. All I know is I got an attempted murder charge over a guard your brother sent at me. I’ll tell you this; that circle you surrounded by ain’t right, cuz. So you need to reconsider the team you’re on because your brother don’t care about nothin’ but money, so watch your back.”

  After the brief visit, Diamond got into the back seat of her Maybach with Sam and sighed. Bain, who was seated in the passenger, grunted for the driver to pull off. The priest, whose head was in the Bible, looked over at her.

  “Is something wrong, Madam?” he asked while putting a book marker in the crease and closing it, but all he got was silence and the back of her head.

  Anti-Diamond

  “You’ll have your revenge…”

  CLYDE WHITE

  Clyde White held a meeting with his Great White committee on the spacious terrace of the Viceroy Hotel that overlooked the spectacular Santa Monica Beach. The only three members that weren’t present for the meeting were Carlos, Tommy Gun, and Diamond. Everyone knew Tommy Gun couldn’t make it because he wanted to be there for his girlfriend, Beauty, who was graduating from college.

  As for Carlos Morin, no one could get in contact with him. His phones, accounts, and address had been changed, making him a hard man to find. Diamond was absent because she knew nothing about the meeting. She wasn’t invited; the meeting was about her.

  “What did the Agugbo brothers say when you spoke about collaborating?” Chavo asked.

  Clyde sighed. “Well, the Agugbo brothers were very interested in our proposal, but there were certain conditions that we could not meet at the time,” he said, choosing his words wisely.

  “And what are those circumstances, may I ask?” Semok Budinov questioned.

  Clyde looked at his cousin, whose expression said, The ball is in your court now.

  “The demise of my sister,” he said.

  “And you denied that proposal?” Chavo wondered, grabbing everyone’s attention.

  “Mr. Garcia!” Semok shot. “Are you out of your mind? This is Diamond we’re talking about. She’s contributed to this organization more than any of us.”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Budinov,” Wong Lee stated. “You know that without the Agugbo brothers, we’re vulnerable. Our empire could crumble. You said it yourself: the connection in South America is closing. Soon, we must find another source. Even with the contribution that Ms. White put it in, it doesn’t matter if we have no way of transporting the merchandise.”

  “He’s right,” Chavo agreed. “I think we should take a vote whether or not Diamond should be—”

  “That’s enough!” Shug snapped, causing everyone to shut their mouths. “We ain’t killing Diamond. That’s over my dead body. You guys should hear yourselves. Sounds like you’re letting this money we getting go to your heads. It’s clouding your judgement. Now, she’s an important part of this organization, like Semok said.”

  “If that’s the case, why not settle our differences with Castor?” Tony Wright suggested. “He has everything we’re looking for. What has Diamond offered us? Nothing but a bunch of outbursts. Forget your sister. It’s business, never personal.”

  Clyde considered this. His thoughts were more on the people who were defending his sister. “This is not something we can just agree to right away. This must be carefully thought out,” Clyde said. “Maybe we should warn Diamond about her actions before we take such drastic measures.” Clyde studied the faces around the table. The last thing he wanted was for one of Diamond’s allies getting a whiff of his plan and running back to tell her. He had talked with Deshawn and wasn’t happy with what he’d heard.

  Chavo leaned forward, folding his hands. He took a deep breath and said, “Well, let’s not wait too long, because sooner or later, Castor will be looking for us.”

  The group went silent as everyone looked at each other with concern.

  After the meeting, as the members of the Great White packed their things and left, Clyde called Shug back. His whole time there, he noticed the distance in Shug.

  “Shug, is everything straight with you?” Clyde asked, patting him on the back. He thought that maybe Shug was upset about the things that were said about Diamond.

  “Yeah, I’m cool, cuz. Just in my bag over my homie, Kev. It’s kinda hard for me since we grew up together from yea-high,” Shug said.

  “Kev was a good guy. I remember when you used to bring him out west,” Clyde said.

  “Remember our clubbing days? When he went into his pocket and asked the waiters how much for the bottles? I think we bought like fifty Magnum bottles that night.” Clyde put his arm around his longtime friend. “Have you found the guy who did this yet?”

  “Nah, not yet. It’s like he disappeared or something. Nobody seen dude,” Shug replied, sounding frustrated.

  “Well, keep looking. If he’s just some small-time mark, then his money will eventually run out, and he’ll pop right back up to the surface. Then you’ll have your revenge.”

  Betrayal

  “The next time we bump heads, you’re gonna wish you never met me…”

  TASHA

  Montega and Samorah laughed all the way to the condo that she was renting. They had just come from the Mike Epps stand-up comedy show and had been laughing about the event the entire ride home. For the past two weeks, Samorah took her new boo everywhere. The two spent so much time together that Montega didn’t have time to see Tasha on campus anymore. He even went to Samorah’s graduation.

  Montega didn't have this much fun with a woman he hadn’t had sex with since he and Tasha first started kicking it. As they sat on the sofa, Samorah got up and went to the mini-bar to get them a drink. “What would you like?” she asked while pouring herself a glass of Belvedere.

  “Gray Goose is good for me,” he replied before turning on the TV. A Breaking News report was on the screen, and a bunch of Coast Guard officials were raiding a large ship. The bottom of the screen read: 1 METRIC TON HEROIN BUST OFF THE COAST OF THE CARIBBEAN. Montega quickly lost interest and asked, “Since we met, you never spoke of your family. What’s up with that?”

  “That’s because you never asked. But if you must know, my father was Columbian, and my mother was French. They were killed when I was just a baby in a car accident in Florida. My only family left is my brother. Ever since my parents died, he has been taking care of me. Of course, I met guys who had potential, but
they either turned out to be jerks, or I just got bored with them.”

  “So how do you explain all of this?” he asked as she handed him his drink.

  Samorah shrugged and smiled. “Do you always ask so many questions?”

  Montega set the drink down and stood. “I’m very cautious, especially when it comes to a very pretty girl.”

  “Do you find me that pretty that I can only date men that can take care of me?” she asked as she stood to face him.

  “I find you extremely pretty, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  Samorah didn’t respond. She was staring at him openly. He was standing before her in a black and red striped Polo shirt with black YSL jeans and black, red, and white Nikes. She reached out and played with the collar of his shirt, running her soft, French-manicured fingers across the cotton fabric. The smell of his Blue Label cologne caused her to close her eyes and step forward.

  She rose on her tippy toes and pressed her lips against his while locking her hands behind his neck to kiss him hard. Her hands were cold but soft. He kissed her back, inviting her cool tongue into his warm mouth against his own. Her breath smelled fresh. Her tongue was very quick and slick, constricting around his own. She tasted of mint and lip gloss. Her perfume rose from the pores of her soft, French-vanilla skin and long, golden hair.

  Montega enjoyed the feel of her breasts resting against this chest. He held her lower back with one hand and her upper back with the other, traveling up to the nape of her neck and back down again.

  He felt as if he were about to suffocate. That’s when she stopped and pulled away. Both were so out of breath that they had to take two more steps away from each other just to avoid another magnetic pull.

  Samorah eyed him for a moment, biting her bottom lip to hold from saying something she might regret. He was everything she could ever want and more. In that one kiss, she planned her entire life with him while standing there. The thought of his body caused her to fan herself and walk away.